RED BANNER

RED BANNERa magazine of socialist ideas

Red Banner
was a socialist magazine published in Ireland from 1997 to 2016. The
following statement, which appeared on the back of each issue, outlines
its political basis:

Red Banner is
a revolutionary socialist magazine. We intend to present socialist
ideas to as many people as we can, and to develop and apply those ideas
to the needs of the struggle for socialism today. We wish to contribute,
as far as we can, to ensuring that socialism succeeds in rescuing the
world from barbarity.

Red Banner is convinced
that the emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the
working classes themselves. As far as we are concerned, socialism means
fully supporting the present-day struggles of workers against
capitalism, and the ultimate replacement of it by a new, socialist
system. We won't be wasting paper with appeals to seek salvation in the
election of nice politicians, or in the ascendancy of benevolent
dictators.

Red Banner will afford zero tolerance
to sectarianism. There are too many on the left who see the struggle in
terms of their own narrow organisational success, and not enough whose
main concern is the strength and fighting consciousness of the working
class. Sectarian squabbles, internal gibberish, and self-advertisement
will not find their way into our pages.

Red Banner does
not have all the answers. We want the magazine to act as a forum to
discuss the ways and means of making socialist revolution a reality.
Those who write for the magazine speak for themselves. We have no party
line to lay down or adhere to, only the broad standpoint of
revolutionary socialism.

Red Banner depends on
its readers being actively involved instead of just passive consumers:
writing for the magazine, subscribing to it, selling it, criticising and
improving it. Above all, the ideas of socialism have to succeed in the
concrete struggles of the working class. It is only as part of that
process that Red Banner means anything.

This site will essentially function as an archive of articles which appeared in Red Banner
over the years. At the moment, we have provided a basic index to the contents of the magazine's 63 issues, and a selection of articles from each. The next phase will make available collections of articles on various subjects. We ask our
readers to be patient while the work proceeds slowly. We welcome
suggestions or feedback, of course.